8 Best Church Administration Training Programs For 2024
In my early days of handling church administration (well before I knew about church administration training programs), I felt like I was juggling a hundred different tasks with no real system in place. It didn’t take long before the cracks started showing:
- I constantly felt overwhelmed by the day-to-day tasks piling up.
- I struggled with organizing volunteers and managing church resources efficiently.
- I spent more time putting out fires than casting vision for the ministry.
Looking back, these issues popped up because I didn’t have the proper training to streamline processes or delegate effectively.
That’s why I’ve put together this list of church administration training programs. These resources can help you sharpen your skills, bring order to your day, and free you up to focus on the bigger picture. Here's a quick look at each one and how it can serve you.
I’ll cover:
Why Church Administration Training Is Important?
If you are in a position of church leadership, then giving careful consideration to the type of training your church administrator has should be a top priority. (As an aside - there are some excellent training resources available in this year's slate of church tech conferences!)
Think of it like this: you spend ample amounts of time ensuring that your pastors and other church leaders are well equipped for their job. Yet, we don't often spend the time to do the same for our church administrators in their jobs.
You probably don't give it a second thought when taking into account leadership training (courses, books, products), but having a certified church administrator likely isn't something you have considered.
Reframe the conversation like this: your church staff likely includes a teaching pastor, a youth pastor, or a children's pastor into whom you will invest time, energy, and finances for leadership training.
Yet these church staff members aren't the ones who will:
- Balance the checkbooks
- Create SOPs (standard operating procedures)
- Organize mailers and emails
- And a veritable host of other things
Investing in church administration training will help your administrator understand the church business management side of the local church that the rest of your staff doesn't know. The rest of the church staff have considerations like pastoral ministry or pastoral counseling (whether they're trained in Christian counseling or not) to be concerned about instead.
When you invest in the church administration training of your administrative assistant, you are really investing in the spiritual formation of your congregation!
8 Best Church Administration Training Programs
With this new mindset, you can start to decide what type of training would be the best fit for your local church, your church board, and your church secretary.
Having taken a look at some of the best church admin courses and certifications on the internet, there are 3 contenders that fit a variety of budgets, congregation sizes, and specific church management needs.
1. Smart Church Management Administration Training
Smart Church Management has a church administration training that sits firmly within the middle-of-the-road option. It has a cost that is completely reasonable and doable for any church congregation, while also packing in a ton of great leader training, HR training, and finance management training.
This particular training comes with three options: Student, Professional, and Bundle.
The Student package costs $99 and grants 12 months of access to all the course work. The Professional package costs $199 and includes a course book to go along with the training, as well as lifetime access to the training.
Lastly, the Bundle Package costs $299 and packs a ton more value with exclusive access to resources like job descriptions, HR documents, and volunteer orientation training templates.
The Smart Church Management training can be finished in a few months. The course sessions with homework are sent via email every 2 days, but you have access to those trainings for as long as you have purchased access (either 12 months or lifetime).
There are no prerequisites for this church administration training and it offers tons of valuable information and lessons without costing thousands of dollars. It is also one of the highest rated courses out there.
2. Graduate Certificate for Church Administration from North Park University Chicago
North Park University Chicago offers a Graduate Certificate for Church Administration that is on the higher end in terms of cost, but delivers some high quality training at a collegiate level of professional training.
This Graduate Certificate program doesn't specify prerequisites in terms of education, but the overall cost is $1,240 per credit. The entire certification program takes 10 credit hours to complete.
The course can be taken 100% online but, if you are local to North Park University, you can attend in-person classes as well. Best of all, they offer plenty of grants and scholarships for students that can help cut the cost.
For those church administrators who want to work towards a Master's degree, this certification has the benefit of building towards that goal while also getting hyper-focused training on what you need as a leader within the administrative areas of your church.
This program can be completed in 12 months, part time. This makes the list because of how esteemed the Graduate Certificate is for those who might be church members moving into a church administrator role as well as church leadership who want to take on more church management responsibilities.
3. Christian Leaders College: Christian Enterprise Course
While not strictly a church administration course, Christian Leaders College offers some top-tier collegiate courses that are 100% free. A combination of these courses cover everything a church administrator would need. All you have to do is create an account, enroll in the course, and complete the coursework at your own pace.
Once you have an account set up, you can complete all courses online and even work towards certification and accreditation if you so choose. There is a fee for taking these accrediting exams, but taking the course without earning college credits is completely free thanks to the contributions of generous donors.
If you want to take your church administration training seriously but don't have the financial resources to spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars, this is our best free pick. (If your church is super tight for cash, you may need to invest in good church financial software to help you improve your situation.)
4. Church Administration Theology and Time Management (Duke University)
This Duke Divinity+ course teaches church leaders how to integrate Christian theology into church administration, focusing on time management as an act of stewardship. It reshapes standard management practices to align with theological goals like discipleship and worship, offering 1.5 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for professional development.
- Who It’s For Church administrators and leaders looking to enhance their skills
- Topics Covered:
- Theology of administration
- Time management
- Practical church management
- Online, In-Person, or Both? Online
- Exam Required? No
- Duration: 17 hours
- How Many Hours Of Instruction: Self-paced
- Eligibility Requirements: None
- Take The Course: Coursera
5. Unity Church: Christian Leadership Academy
This course equips Christian leaders to navigate the complexities of leadership within a ministry context. By blending biblical principles with practical leadership skills, it encourages students to reflect on and apply what they learn in their own ministries. The course focuses on developing leadership that extends beyond the church setting, empowering leaders to actively share and implement their knowledge in service to God and their communities.
- Who It’s For: Unity Church members and leaders
- Topics Covered:
- Leadership principles
- Christian teachings
- Community engagement
- Online, In-Person, or Both? Online
- Exam Required? No
- Duration: 6 weeks
- How Many Hours Of Instruction: Self-paced
- Eligibility Requirements: None
- Price: Free
- Take The Course: Udemy
6. Church Leadership and Administration (Our Daily Bread University)
This course explores leadership and administrative processes within a Christian context, focusing on the local church. It covers key aspects such as decision-making, organization, delegation, and leadership training. Designed to combine theory and practical application, it equips students to enhance their effectiveness in church leadership by providing insights into both the structural and relational components of administration.
- Who It’s For: Aspiring and current church leaders
- Topics Covered:
- Leadership skills
- Financial management
- Strategic planning
- Online, In-Person, or Both? Online
- Exam Required? No
- Duration: 8 weeks
- How Many Hours Of Instruction: 30 minutes average
- Eligibility Requirements: None
- Take The Course: Our Daily Bread University
7. LEAD 505: Church Administration (Liberty University)
This course focuses on the critical role of administration in church ministry, emphasizing the need for effective organization and management to support the church’s mission and vision. It explores how pastoral and church staff can apply administrative skills to ensure a well-run ministry while balancing other responsibilities like teaching and preaching. The course provides practical tools for managing the unique challenges of a volunteer-driven environment, fostering a structured and purposeful approach to church leadership.
- Who It’s For: Church leaders and administrators
- Topics Covered:
- Organizational leadership
- Management principles
- Church governance
- Online, In-Person, or Both? Online
- Exam Required? Yes
- Duration: 8 to 16 weeks
- Eligibility Requirements: Enrollment in Liberty University
- Price: Tuition fees apply which start at $390
- Take The Course: Liberty University
8. Christian Community Development (Daniel Institute)
This course equips pastors and leaders with essential skills for Christian community development, focusing on how they can serve as agents of change within their communities. It explores the unique role of the church in fostering holistic and sustainable development initiatives, emphasizing practical involvement in areas like poverty reduction, advocacy, and community engagement. Participants will gain insights into the ways Christian organizations can actively contribute to the well-being and growth of their congregants and local communities.
- Who It’s For: Church leaders and administrators
- Topics Covered:
- Church management
- Operational strategies
- Administrative tasks
- Online, In-Person, or Both? Online
- Exam Required? Yes
- Eligibility Requirements: None
- Take The Course: Daniel Institute
Do What You Feel Called To Do
Managing the pastoral care of your congregation, along with keeping church leadership organized, can feel like a full-time job. Being able to entrust administrative duties to a well-trained church staff member frees you up to do what you were called to do: love people and show them the love of Jesus Christ.
Learn more about church administration here, and check out the latest church administration software for further help streamlining your church’s admin processes. You might also enjoy this list of church leadership training options.
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